Raiden's Trek

• Caelin Dastey, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2014

Raiden was angrier than he had ever been. It was around two o'clock in the morning, freezing cold and about to rain. So why was he the only one from the village who had to be up hunting? He had turned fifteen last week. He was a year away from coming of age! So why was he still stuck out here, hunting for food?!!? This was a child's job, and, while technically he was still a child, he had believed that after his fifteenth, he would no longer have to do such menial tasks.

For a normal village or tribe, hunting might have been something only an adult could do. But not for someone from one of the villages of Elementals, like Raiden. For them it was a simple task. The towns were so prosperous, in fact, that most of the population had grown fat and lazy, even though times were difficult for most people.but for some reason, livestock from the farms had been disappearing without a trace, leaving them with no choice but to rely on the rather outdated practice of hunting for their food. Raiden would normally have been happy to go hunting. It was usually an extremely simple task. But recently, the leader of the village had decreed that hunting was no longer allowed within a day’s walk of the village, because the animals near the village were becoming scarce as the people were becoming fatter,

So that was why Raiden was here, trudging along, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He had just been woken by the sound of thunder in the night, and had decided he might as well get going. He needed to be back in few days’ time anyways.

Raiden was brought back to earth by the realization that his clothes were being dampened by a light, misty rain. the kind that doesn't look like much, but can easily soak you through in a few minutes if you don't find shelter. He had been looking for some form of tracks in the dull, grey light of dawn, but in this weather, he doubted he would find much worth following. Knowing that if he didn't find cover soon he would be drenched, and having no desire to keep hunting whilst dripping wet, Raiden decided to sprint for a nearby cliff that was poking up out of the foliage, hoping to find a cave, or at least that the cliff would provide some shelter from the rain.

It took him two minutes to get to the cliff, and his clothes were already moderately damp. Before him he saw two caves. He chose the cave to the right. Because of his scar, Raiden always chose right to go right. As soon as he got inside, Raiden threw his things onto the stone floor and began searching the cave, trying to see if any other animals had decided to take shelter from the rain. As he walked further into the cave, he began hearing a rhythmic sighing, and felt a slight breeze at regular intervals, like the cave was... breathing.


As rounded a bend he looked up ahead of himself. What he saw almost made him cry out. A huge, golden dragon lay sleeping in the middle of the cave. And there, in its giant claws, lay an egg, glowing red as the sunset.